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Indicator

Proportion of pregnant women who were asked about their mental health at their first booking appointment.

Indicator type

Network / system level indicator.

The indicator would be appropriate to understand and report on the performance of networks or systems of providers.

This document does not represent formal NICE guidance. For a full list of NICE indicators, see our menu of indicators.

To find out how to use indicators and how we develop them, see our NICE indicator process guide.

Rationale

Identifying mental health problems in pregnancy is important because of the potential effect on the baby and on the woman's physical health and care, and her ability to function and care for her family. The first booking appointment allows healthcare professional to discuss emotional wellbeing with women and identify potential mental health problems. This indicator will help to identify women who have mental health problems and enable health professionals to provide appropriate support.

Source guidance

Antenatal and postnatal mental health. NICE guideline CG192 (2014, updated 2020), recommendation 1.5.4

Specification

Numerator: The number of pregnant women in the denominator who were asked about their mental health at their first booking appointment.

Denominator: The number of pregnant women having a first booking appointment.

Calculation: Numerator divided by the denominator, multiplied by 100.

Exclusions: Booking appointments with dates greater than or equal to the labour onset date or date of caesarean section

Data source: Maternity services dataset (MSDS), NHS Digital.

Minimum population: The indicator would be appropriate to understand and report on the performance of networks or systems of providers.

ISBN: 978-1-4731-5554-1